The government through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources says it is in the process of revoking some timber licenses in selected districts of North Western and Western Provinces.
Speaking when she featured on the PF Interactive Forum in Lusaka Sunday morning, Minister in charge Hon Jean Kapata said this is aimed at bringing sanity in the timber industry.
Hon Kapata also maintained that the harvesting and exporting of Mukula logs still stands.
She said it is worrying that people in the two provinces are cutting down trees indiscriminately.
Hon Kapata mentioned that she is aware of some chiefs who are giving out timber licenses to foreigners when it is the mandate of her ministry to issue timber licenses.
“Let me emphasize here that it takes 90 years for a Mukula tree to mature and it takes just three minutes to cut it down. This is why as a government through my ministry we are encouraging Zambians to plant at least five trees when you cut one”, she said.
The minister also indicated that her ministry has made strides towards coming up with a national land policy.
“The process started in 2002 and stalled in 2006. At the moment we have concluded consultations with our chiefs and the next step is validation. Even at the validation stage, we will still engage our chiefs”, she said.
She emphasized that the validation process will be a process where chiefs and other stakeholders will agree on the contents of the document before it can pass through other legal processes.
Hon Kapata further disclosed that her ministry is in the process of undertaking national land audit.
She said the government wants to audit land knowing too well that ten percent of the land across the country belongs to the state and the remaining 90 percent belongs to the chiefs.
She hopes that this process will be concluded soon so as to know how much land is available.
She also took time to caution people in the habit of illegally allocating land of stern action saying no one found wanting will be spared.
“Let me repeat myself though I have said this in several occasions, no one will be spared as there will be no sacred cows in this process. People ought to follow normal procedure when acquiring land and avoid complications,” she warned.
Another incompetent corrupt minister one Kapata just wasting taxpayers money…her ministry has never successfully charged anyone for illegal export of Mukula even when dozens of trucks have been impounded
Only in Zambia does a person suspected of being the Chief Mukula smuggler get put in charge of the Department where she can have unrestricted access to plunder more Mukula. Kaya!
THE CHINESE ARE TAKING TRUCK LOADS OF TIMBER OUT OF THE WESTERN PROVINCE… EVERY SINGLE DAY ………… IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE THEN GO TO KATIMA BORDER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!